E-books are electronic books. They are delivered to a computer or other digital device instead of being printed on paper. Much like reading traditional books bound and printed on paper, e-books provide the same information in a different medium. The popularity of e-books increased with the popularity of the Internet and with good reason; E-books have many advantages over paper books. This article discusses the benefits of using e-books and the different ways you can read and store e-books.

E-books Save Time

Those who read e-books enjoy many advantages over traditional books. First of all, e-books save you time. Instead of driving to a library or book store and manually handling the books, you can accomplish the same tasks via the Internet. Most e-books provide a table of contents when browsing online, and some shops like Amazon give you sample chapters to decide if you like the book or not. E-books are delivered instantly to your computer or other device, so you don’t need to wait like you would if you ordered a physical book to be shipped. Overall, you save time looking for books and spend more time reading them.

E-books Save Space

Another benefit of e-books is the space savings. An entire library of reading can be stored on one small device. This means you get more room in your home or office for other things. It also means you can carry an entire library with you if you are traveling. Many readers prefer to store e-books on smaller devices such as a laptop, cellphone, or an e-book reader (more on that later). A side benefit of using e-books is the green factor; They are environmentally friendly because there is no manufacturing involved like paper books. The bottom line is e-books free up physical space which is one of their major benefits over printed books.

E-books Are Easy to Read

One important benefit to those with eye or reading problems is that e-books can be altered unlike paper books. For example, if you have problems reading traditional books because the font size is too small, then you can change the font size to make it bigger. You can also change the font type if you’re not comfortable with the shape of the letters. Other things you can change include the color of the text and background which is useful for some people with reading problems such as dyslexia. The ability to change the layout and look of e-books is another factor that makes them popular over traditional reading material.

E-book Readers and Other Devices

E-books can be read on many devices. Computers are a common choice. However, laptop computers have an advantage over desktop computers because they allow you to easily transport your e-book library with you. Some cell phones (most notably smart phones such as the iPhone or HTC Incredible) also allow you to read e-books. The drawback of keeping e-books on your cell phone is the small screen size, so it may not be suitable for everyone. There is another option called e-book readers or e-readers for short. These are devices specifically designed for reading e-books and even other printed material like magazines and newspapers.

E-readers: Cost and Where to Find Them

E-readers are now becoming more popular because the prices have come down. Prices typically range from $200 to $400 dollars depending mostly on the screen size. Deals on e-readers can be found around the holidays as they make great gifts. Amazon makes an e-reader called Kindle which is one of the most popular devices on the market. Barnes & Noble makes a competing e-reader named Nook. There are e-readers made by Sony aptly named the Sony Reader. The touch-screen edition goes for around $300. Most of these devices are becoming more popular because they are simple and easy to use unlike laptops and smart phones which tend to be filled with technological complexity.

Conclusion

Traditional paper-bound books are becoming a thing of the past as e-books and e-readers gain a growing popularity. Advantages such as saving time, saving space, and ease-of-use give e-books many benefits over their bound brethren. And with e-readers making the technology more simple and easy to use while saving the environment, digital books will only continue to enjoy an increased readership.